Override of health insurance veto fails in state Senate

Thursday

SPRINGFIELD -- An effort to overturn this year’s new health-insurance contracts for state employees and extend Health Alliance’s contract for two years failed Wednesday in the Illinois Senate.

SPRINGFIELD -- An effort to overturn this year’s new health-insurance contracts for state employees and extend Health Alliance’s contract for two years failed Wednesday in the Illinois Senate.

On a 28-28 vote, the Senate failed to override Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto of a bill that would have extended for two years contracts that expired June 30. The measure also would have given a legislative panel explicit authority to throw out contracts awarded by state agencies.

The failure was a victory for the Democratic governor, whose staff had made calls to legislators and got many to change their votes.

“The bill would have undermined the state’s transparent, competitive procurement law passed just two years ago,” Quinn aide Brie Callahan said. “Our process keeps politics out of procurement and ensures that the people of Illinois are served by contracts awarded for quality products at the best possible price.”

Senate Bill 178, sponsored by Sen. Michael Frerichs, D-Champaign, was introduced after Urbana-based Health Alliance lost its bid to continue as an option for state employees, retirees and dependents. Health Alliance complained that its bid wasn’t considered fairly.

The bill originally passed May 27, with 37 votes — one more than the 36 required for a veto override.

But on Wednesday, 13 senators — almost all of them Democrats and most from the Chicago area — voted against the override after originally voting for the bill or not voting. One Democratic senator who previously voted “yes” didn’t vote Wednesday, and Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, changed his previous “yes” vote to “present.”

Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, who voted for the bill in May, wasn’t present because he had to leave to attend a news conference in Lincoln about the proposed closure of the Logan Correctional Center. Bomke said later that he would have supported the override.

Callahan said lawmakers “voted their conscience” on the override proposal. She said Quinn’s staff explained how the bill, by giving the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability the power to axe newly awarded contracts, would have allowed political meddling in the procurement process.

Frerichs said he “wasn’t completely shocked” by the vote.

“I know the governor’s office was very much against this,” he said. “This motion failing does not the mean the end of the world for our reforms to the state group health insurance

Frerichs initially delayed the vote after Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, told him a compromise was in the works that would have included a settlement of Health Alliance’s ongoing lawsuit against the state. That compromise fell apart when officials from Quinn’s office failed to support it, Syverson said.

Frerichs, a member of COGFA, said the bill would give the legislative branch “a check and balance” on the executive branch. If the bill became law, any COGFA vote to turn down a contract also would require majority approval from the full House and Senate to take effect, he said.

Health Alliance’s lawsuit is pending in Sangamon County Circuit Court. The suit has resulted in temporary contracts being issued to Health Alliance, Personal Care and HealthLink through the end of the fiscal year. SB 178 would have eliminated those temporary contracts.

“I think we have a good argument in the courts,” Frerichs said, “and then we have several months in the spring session to work on anything we may need to do.”

Dean Olsen can be reached at (217) 788-1543.

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